Marshall Islands Correspondent
MAJURO, Marshall Islands — The long-deteriorating former capital building of the Marshall Islands in Majuro is now being demolished.
Demolition of the four-story building by Pacific International Inc. started on March 21 and is expected to continue until the end of April.
Taiwan has put up $32 million for a new capital facility, with a portion of this funding supporting the demolition work.
PII imported a heavy excavator with long-reach arms to facilitate the demolition. The excavator was so large, it could only be brought in on one container vessel, which delayed its delivery to Majuro by several months.
Robert Muller, senior project manager at Pacific International Inc.; said the excavator could “only be carried on Kyowa’s roll-on/roll-off vessel, but the operator uses this specialty vessel less frequently now.” The heavy equipment arrived in early March, was assembled and then put to work at the capital building site.
The building was originally built by PII in the early 1990s and opened for use in August 1993. But a lack of sustained maintenance caused the demise of the iconic, reflecting glass building.
Just 15 years after it had opened, occupants of the fourth floor, including the President’s Office and the Council of Irooj had to vacate the premises due to pieces falling out of the ceiling and other problems appearing.
At least two independent engineering reports on the capital building outlined maintenance steps needed but little sustained work was done.
Within a couple years of the President’s Office and others vacating the top floor, most of the other government offices moved to different rental locations around Majuro, where they have remained since.
The building has been vacant for close to 15 years, except for an office/work area for Public Works staff on the ground floor.
The Ministry of Works in March advertised for bids for a design-build contract for the new capital building.
This is one of several major construction projects that Pacific International Inc. is currently engaged in. It is now midway through an airport repaving project for Amata Kabua International Airport, which is funded by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and building a new 11-million-gallon water reservoir next to the airport. The latter is funded by Japan.
The U.S. and the Marshall Islands government have begun initial discussions to revive the plan to build a new hospital with funding provided through the Compact of Free Association.
Although the project had been pegged at around $40 million when it was first conceived 15 years ago, officials are now suggesting it may cost close to $100 million to complete.
Bids for the work have not yet been announced. mbj